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The debate over diversity in the FDNY has focused on one statistic - 91% of the Bravest are white. But in the shadow of the legal battle to bring more blacks and Hispanics into the department lurks another number: 31. That's how many female firefighters are employed by the FDNY, the nation's largest department with about 11,500 members, records show. It's ...

EMMITSBURG, MD - A firefighter declared "Mayday" and was rescued by fire personnel who were with him at the scene of a fire in Emmitsburg this afternoon, said Wayne Powell, a retired public information officer for Vigilant Hose Company. "When a firefighter gets in trouble, gets trapped, can't find their way out, they declare 'Mayday,' Powell said. In this case the ...

ST. CHARLES, MO - A St. Charles County woman went into sudden cardiac arrest at just 32 years old, but skilled medics brought her back to life. Now those paramedics are getting a surprise from their miracle patient. "It came out as an unconscious female," remembers paramedic Kevin Griffith of the call that came into ambulance station 14 on August 29, ...

WEST MAUI, HI - A West Maui brushfire that has burned 1,100 acres since Monday in the Olowalu area is 60 percent contained and firefighters are expected to continue monitoring the area tonight, Maui County said Wednesday. The county says the area of the fire is closed to public access for safety reasons. Mayor Charmaine Tavares said Wednesday, "I would like ...

SUMMERFIELD, Ill. - The little dogs -- Zipper and Molly -- barked their heads off. Ruby Widicus looked out her kitchen window in the rainy darkness at 5 a.m. recently and could just make out several fire trucks. The firefighters were parked at the end of the quarter-mile-long driveway to a farmhouse off St. Jacob/Summerfield Road where she and her husband ...

SAN FRANCISCO - A former South San Francisco firefighter has been charged with running a high-stakes sports betting ring, using city phones to wager an average of $500 a week and soliciting colleagues to participate, authorities said. James Anthony Selvitella Jr., 52, a onetime battalion chief, was charged with conspiracy and bookmaking in San Mateo County Superior Court along with four ...

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (AP) ― Four Framingham firefighters have suffered minor injuries after their fire engine crashed and rolled over. The fire truck was returning from a call when the driver hit a pole before rolling over onto an Edgell Road front yard. The firemen were taken to a local hospital for treatment. A fireman who answered the phone at the station, ...

SAN ANTONIO — Authorities say a man believed to have been missing after a fuel-laden 18-wheeler exploded at a Texas refinery has been found safe. San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood says the man is a driver of one of three tanker trucks that were at an AGE Refining Inc. fueling station when the Wednesday explosion happened. Hood says another driver ...

SALISBURY, N.H. -- Police said a volunteer firefighter in Salisbury is facing a criminal charge for mishandling a pipe bomb. Police said on March 16, Walter Scott Jr. called them about a suspicious device he claimed to have found in Franklin and then brought back to a garage at his property on Old Turnpike Road. The state police bomb squad used ...

BALTIMORE - Holding signs that said "City Hall Has Turned Their Backs on Police and Firefighters," about two dozen police and firefighters union members protested the City Council's passage of a pension bill that took effect Thursday. The union members wore shirts saying, "We Protect You. Help Protect Us," and yelled as local city and business leaders entered a fundraising event ...

PORT AUTHORITY - A JetBlue flight attendant left his job in dramatic fashion yesterday, allegedly cursing out passengers on his flight before exiting via the plane's emergency exit -- beer in hand -- and eventually driving off in a car he had parked at the airport. As you might expect, the story has become the talk of the industry, generating headlines ...

Detroit -- A Detroit businessman was sentenced to 41 2/3 to 62 years in prison today for causing the death of a firefighter who was trying to extinguish an arson blaze. Mario Willis, 27, had faced up to life in prison when sentenced by Wayne County Circuit Judge Michael Callahan. Willis, who was once honored by the City Council with a ...

BROOKLYN, NY - Criminal charges against one firefighter involved in a boozy Brooklyn bar brawl were dropped Thursday, but a second has been indicted on two misdemeanors. Firefighter Ryan Warnock was charged with assault and disorderly conduct in connection with the Jan. 29 slugfest at the Salty Dog in Bay Ridge. Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes refused to charge firefighter Michael ...

CRESTVIEW, Fla. -- A dog reportedly woke up his owner during a fire at a Panhandle home. Fire officials say the blaze started just outside the Crestview house early Saturday morning and spread up the wall and into the attic. The home's owner, an Okaloosa County deputy, told authorities that his boxer woke him. He then looked out a window and ...

KEENE – Two people were injured when an ambulance transporting a patient slid off of Route 12 yesterday morning. Police did not say whether anyone was seriously injured, but Keene fire Capt. Ron Leslie said everyone was "up and walking around after the crash." He said they were taken to the hospital for evaluation. The Golden Cross ambulance, based out of ...

BROOKLYN - Several firefighters are likely to be charged after a boozy brawl at a Brooklyn bar that sent a college soccer coach to the hospital with a busted eye, police sources said. Sinan Selmani, who works at St. Francis College, was clutching his broken eye socket as he was dragged by firefighters to a bathroom at the Salty Dog in ...

BORODINO, NY -- A Borodino volunteer firefighter died Saturday evening after complaining of trouble breathing while responding to a barn collapse in the town of Spafford. Gerard Marcheterre, 50, was riding in a rescue pumper truck en route to the collapse when his breathing became labored, said his brother, Second Assistant Fire Chief Joseph Marcheterre. A SAVES ambulance met the tanker ...

Detroit -- A Detroit businessman was sentenced to 41 2/3 to 62 years in prison today for causing the death of a firefighter who was trying to extinguish an arson blaze. Mario Willis, 27, had faced up to life in prison when sentenced by Wayne County Circuit Judge Michael Callahan. Willis, who was once honored by the City Council with a ...